UNA: Absences of candidates in sorties rock Team PNoy

THIN crowds and chronic absenteeism of some Team PNoy senatorial candidates only show the administration-backed slate is losing steam in the campaign for the May 13 elections, an official of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) said Wednesday.

Without mentioning names, UNA campaign manager Toby Tiangco said most of Team PNoy bets skip their sorties in Mindanao despite the presence of President Benigno Aquino III. The President attended the coalition's rally in Cagayan de Oro City last week.

"In all sincerity, I felt pity for Senator (Franklin) Drilon. His appeal to the candidates to attend their events has been ignored. This is the first time I've seen a campaign manager being ignored by his candidates," he said.

Nine administration candidates made it to the so-called Magic 12 in the recent poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) although they were not on the same stage for most of the time because of prior commitments.

Tiangco said in contrast, the crowd of over 100,000 in Northern Mindanao last weekend was the best way to measure the depth of the people's support more than surveys.

"Our candidates tackled the pressing concerns of Mindanaoans -- the looming power crisis, peace and order, food security, children's welfare, public health. These issues are important to the people of Mindanao..," he said.

UNA barnstormed San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, on Wednesday and will proceed to other parts of the province on Thursday. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)